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Update & Farewell Post

It's a beautiful Saturday morning here in Northern Utah.🌞Marcus is just starting an all day hunter safety course. David is on his way home from a business trip in Tucson, only to have to fly to Lima (Peru) on Monday and then Canada the following week. As you can see, his work is keeping him away from home these days and that is not easy on us, but we do what we have to do, don't we? I'm so thankful to have Zach and Darcie living at home at this time. Marissa is preparing to return to BYU-Idaho in two weeks for fall semester. She and I have been busy preparing for that. We've grocery shopped for her non-perishable food items and I've typed up several recipes for her. She was very good her first year to prepare most of her meals at home, saving us money.

Marcus' online classes do not start up until the 31st, but his first year of Seminary began this past Tuesday. So far he is really enjoying his Seminary class. It's a bit of a sacrifice for us since, being homeschoolers, I have to drive him there and back every morning and we have no one to carpool with since the other kids all stay for high school. His class is from 7:40-8:30am, forcing us out of bed at 6:30am so we can leave by 7 to get him there by 7:30 (he doesn't attend at the closest building which is fifteen min away). It's a good thing I have such a strong testimony of Seminary since I am not a morning person! 😉

Zach has been busy working a full time job at an ice-cream factory and Darcie continues her part time job at Kohl's. She starts back to USU on Monday. As for me, I am doing some last minute preparations for this homeschool year. Even though Marcus will do most of his schooling with only my supervision, there are still things I want the two of us to engage in together, such as a weekly poetry tea time, a monthly read-aloud that is just for fun and not for English, and our Friday nature club which involves other homeschooling families from across the valley.

I started this blog back in September of 2011, almost 6 years ago and my intention was for extended family and friends to read it and follow us on our adventures as we moved around and traveled the globe. However, few have actually taken any interest so I feel like I'm writing to myself and I have a paper journal for that. So, this is my farewell post here on Hi Madsen's. I hope anyone reading this will consider following my more lively blog, Camie's Cozy Corner. Besides, in the very near future, I'll be posting some exciting news on there!

By the way, don't ever underestimate keeping a paper journal. Writing is therapeutic and essential for preserving the past so the future may glean from it. Plus, we tend to write our more intimate thoughts in a paper journal than online.

I've been thinking about why I blog and what I love most about blogging. I started blogging as a way to connect with extended family and friends, which didn't quite work out, haha. However, this blog led me to create two others, Happy Heart's Homeschool and Camie's Cozy Corner, and through those blogs I have "met" some truly wonderful people I wouldn't have otherwise, people from all walks of life. In fact, I'm meeting one of my blogger and homeschool friends in person at the end of September! We're meeting in Tennessee for a homeschool conference, my first ever. 😇

I love the blogging community because of how supportive we are of one another. For the most part, it's a very positive environment and we need more of that in this world. We need more kindness and a lot less criticism. After all, we are all walking this life here on earth together and we all have something worthwhile to share. I also blog as a gentle way to share my faith (I do despise preachy blogs!) and I blog to improve my writing skills and showcase my growing photography skills. Blogging is a great way to practice grammar and editing skills. And I've learned the technology along the way! I've learned how to embed photos and videos, how HTML formatting works, etc. So, if you don't blog, consider it! I'd be happy to give you some tips to get started. If you do blog, please give me your link in the comments below so I can follow you.

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